Lightning doesn't strike twice
by Tilleeeyyy
Summary: Returning to work after his battle with drug abuse, Reid struggles to regain normality within the team. An encounter with a stranger changes everything. Lightning doesn't strike twice... or does it? MY FIRST FANFIC, PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

_This is my first ever fanfic, Criminal Minds or otherwise. I hope it isn't too disappointing for you, and any tips or suggestions would be gratefully recieved! Enjoy :)_

Drip, drip drip. The harsh sound echoes violently inside the dimly lit room, accompanied only by the sound of a young mans' ragged breath.

"Please.. help me.."

The dissonant sound hit the concrete walls and bounces back, as if it were mocking him. The lights flicker, then plunge the room into darkness. The body in the center of the floor jerks hysterically as it tries to adjust, but fails, to the difference in atmosphere. A gust of wind blows unexpectedly as the click of heels stride across the stoned floor.

"Well, well, well - look what we have here..." says a husky female voice "not so tough without your bullet-proof vest and team of backup agents, are we Dr Reid?"

The sweet scent of musky fragrance mixed with the stench of nicotine from her lips washes over Reid as she bends to give him a lipstick stain on his cheek.

"See you later, my love..."

The sound of her stilettoes grow faint as Reid releases a cry of angst, and falls unconcious, defeated.

**ONE WEEK EARLIER**

The squeak of shoes across the newly polished marble floor echoes through the lobby of the FBI offices, as Dr Spencer Reid hurries through the otherwise silent building brushing a lock of hair out of his face and clutching a pile of case files. The large ice-white clock chimes; three am. The young doctor stifles a yawn as he pressed the elevator button with a long, pure white finger, unaware that this week would change his life forever.

Spencer Reid took a deep breath as the elevator doors opened before him. The low buzz of conversation flooded into his ears, the comforting sound of home. As he stepped into the BAU of the FBI, he caught the eye of Jennifer Jareau, or JJ to the team. Reid tore his gaze away from the gleaming pools of turquoise and set his bag and armful of folders on an already overwhelming desk.

"Welcome back, Spence!"

It was JJ again, this time flinging herself into Reids skinny torso. Spencer, known for being socially awkward, stood rigid unaware of what to do in this situation. The young genius was not used to such attention, even from his family in the BAU. Still raw from his ordeal, he cleared his throat and waited for JJ to release him from her grasp.

"Should you even be back at work this soon?"

The sound startled him from his chain of thought, as he looked around to see who was talking to him. He was shocked to see JJ was no longer engulfed into his chest, and was now faffing around his desk ensuring everything was right for his arrival.

"I..I'm fine, JJ. I-"

"Spence, you can't lie to me. If its too soon, Hotch will understand. We all will."

Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of JJ's phone. She flipped it upwards, turning with her back to Reid. He heard her mutter a few words, then hang up. She turned to face him, and his instincts instantly told him what the phonecall was about. He had seen that expression too many times before.

"We'll continue this later Spence. Right now we need to gather the team - this one's bad."


	2. Chapter 2

_Second installment of my first fanfic xD_

_I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the characters.._

_Please review! _

Reid looked up to find faces of confusion, shock and horror as he entered the conference room. He saw his colleagues look at each other, then back to him multiple times before anyone said anything.

"Hi!" Reid said uncharacteristically cheerily, trying to break the tension, but his attempt backfired as the faces of his co-workers looked on at him in bewilderment.

"Pretty boy, we're all happy to see you're okay.. but what the hell are you doing here?" Derek Morgan approached Reid, his chocolate brown eyes staring deeply into the young genius', searching his soul for the answer.

"Morgan.. I'm fine, honestl-"

"No. Don't give me that Reid, we all know what you've been through. We're your family, whether you like it or not. You know as well as I do that coming back here, back to all the reminders is too soon.. We need you better, Reid. You're genius mind is irreplaceable, no, screw that, we don't WANT to replace it. So I'm gonna drive you home, and you're gonna stay there. You understand me?"

The look of fierce determination on his best friends face was enough. He looked at the faces of every member of the team in turn; feeling angry that they were all turning on him like this.

"NO! Who are you to judge when I'm ready to come back to work? Yes, I was kidnapped. Yes, I.. I had issues with drugs. But this is MY job and MY decision. I'm not the same person who you used to know - the sooner you all accept that the better!"

Reid fled from the conference room, tears burning in his eyes. The raw flashes of first light were sweeping through chinks in the office blinds as he stormed to his desk, grabbed his bag and headed for the elevator. He glanced at the clock - 3:38am. Growing impatient, he rushed away from the elevator and pounded down the staircase and across the still deadly-silent lobby, into the cool morning breeze.

He wandered aimlessly, repeating over and over in his mind the actions of that morning.

_"Such a lot can change in 38 minutes.. I honestly thought they'd be happier to see me.." _he thought bitterly to himself. He spotted the sign for an all night coffee house, and made his way inside.

He found a small table in the back of the coffee house, where he could see everyone and everything but keeping out of most people's viewpoints. He glanced around, then ordered some coffee. His eyes grew sad and lost, as the realisation of that morning hit him. He became more and more lost in his own thoughts, that he almost didn't notice a woman looking at him. Tall and slender, with majestic blue eyes and flowing golden hair, she seemed strangely familiar. They caught each others eyes. Spencer caught himself blushing, lowering his head to hide his embarrassment of being caught looking at her.

Her slender fingers were wrapped around a long cigarrette, the smoke blowing from her mouth, hypnotising him. She smiled at him, her perfect pearl-white teeth and beautiful eyes penetrating the room, making Spencer feel invigorated and stronger. It was in that instant, that Spencer knew he had to meet her, and find out what this.. this connection was between them...

_Who is this mysterious woman, and what does she want with Spencer?_

_Stay tuned to find out, please review!_


	3. Chapter 3

Reaaaaaaally sorry that its taken me this long to update :/ been mega busy and had serious writers block. So if there is anyone out there still interested in this story, I appreciate you reading and maybe a few reviews? ;D oh, and I'm sorry that I keep uploading and deleting chapters, totally not my fault I'm just still getting used to using FanFic :')

I don't own CM or any of the characterss!

It took a few seconds for Spencer to realise he was staring at her. Blushing, he cleared his throat and set about arranging the condiments on the table, sending his coffee flying in the process. The sudden smash of the coffee cup make Spencer jump, and the sound echoed around the otherwise silent room. A waitress jumped up to help him clear the table, and when he looked around the mysterious woman was gone. He grabbed his satchel, dropped a $10 bill on the table and ran into the street. It was 4:03am, and the street was deserted. He looked around frantically, hoping for a sign, a signal that the woman was somewhere to be seen. His heart sank as he knew she was gone. Spencer sighed as he thought back to the moment their eyes had locked - did she feel the connection too? The memory of her azure eyes burned into his brain, as he tried to decipher were he knew her from. A case? His past? His heart sank as he couldn't place her.

Back at the BAU offices, the team were silent. The tension was mounting as JJ cleared her throat and started to hand out case files.

"Ruby Walker, aged 17. Reported missing three days ago in Austin, Texas. Found dead yesterday morning, around 40 miles from where she is thought to have gone missing. She was found with multiple stab wounds, signs of sexual abuse and her eyes removed. There was also this note attached.." JJ brought up a digital image stating the words 'SHE MAY BE THE FIRST BUT SHE IS CERTAINLY NOT THE LAST.' JJ swallowed. "She was supposed to go to a friends costume party, but never made-"

JJ was interrupted by a knock at the door. Spencer stood there defiantly, cleared his throat and took his usual seat next to Morgan. Morgan stiffened, then started shuffling through the case files with an angry look upon his face. JJ continued to run through the information, but it was clear nobody had their full attention on the case. As JJ drew to a close, Hotch stood up.

"As this is the first victim, not all of us need to go to Texas. Morgan, you stay here with Reid. JJ, Rossi, Prentiss and myself will fly to Austin an-""Hotch, what the hell is wrong with you?" Derek Morgan flew to his feet, fists clenched together, jaw tight. "You know full well that if this does turn out to be a serial killer, which we all know it will" - he glanced at his colleagues who were avoiding his gaze - "we all need to be there. We're a team, we don't catch them otherwise!"

"Morgan, I understand where you're coming from. But we need you here." He raised his eyebrows at Spencer, who was fiddling with the clasp on his satchel. Morgan, knowing he had no choice in the matter, stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Reid got up and hurried after his friend."Morgan, wait! I need to talk to yo-""You made your point perfectly clear earlier, kid. I think its best we just stay away from each other for a while - like you said, you're not the person you used to be. I'm still trying to work out if that's someone I wanna be around."

Reid's felt his heart deflate as he watched his best friend walk away from him. He knew in his heart that it was more than that. He was losing the most important person in his life and there was nothing he could do about it. He blinked away the tears, swallowed and went back to his desk where he had left his case files. He looked up, to see Morgan staring at him. As he met the older agents gaze, Morgan walked off. Reid felt his fragile heart shatter into a million pieces.

I'm not sure whether to turn this into a bit of a mild slash or just keep Reid&Morgan as friends (if they make up that is ;)) so please, and tips or criticisms would be really helpful J and if you just don't want me to carry on with the story let me know J


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, so I'm still deciding which direction to take the Morgan/Reid aspect of the story in, but I'll try and write whatever I decide as best I can :') thank you to all the new susbscribers, it means a lot to know someone is even reading this! Anyway, enough of me talking, here's the next chapter! - Reviews would be appreciated :L_

_So, I got partway through writing this chapter and something came up and I didn't get back to it for a couple of days :/ so this chapter may be a bit long as I came up with new idea's in the process. I hope you guys enjoy it though :')_

_P.S sorry about the loading/deleting and uploading again, noticed a few errors :/_

"We're having difficulty making a profile.. This guy's good Spence. Hotch and Rossi are going out of their minds that we haven't found anything yet. I'll call you if anything changes - oh, and Hotch says if we're going to catch the unSub then we need you and Morgan working together; we all think you should talk to him. Bye, Spence." Reid sighed as JJ hung up the phone. The team had been gone for three days, with a fresh victim but no clues as to who the killer might be. Spencer became increasingly angry with himself, as he knew that without his knowledge many people could lose their lives. Frustrated at his lack of commitment to this case, he left his desk and went to make himself some coffee. Grabbing his mug from the cupboard, he gasped as he turned to see Morgan standing in the doorway, the same defiant look upon his face that had been there for the past three days.

"Der- erm, Morgan, JJ just called. Hotch sa-"

"I know, Reid. I just spoke with Garcia who spoke to Prentiss about an hour ago." Derek Morgan could not meet the younger agents gaze. He knew that he was sorry, he just couldn't bear to see the hurt in his friends eyes.

"Oh, okay. I was looking through the case files and I can't find anything. I don't know what to do.." Reid's eyes filled with tears.

Derek looked up to see the frustration in his colleagues eyes and felt his heart drop. He hated to see Reid like this. He wanted to help him, wrap his arms around him and tell him it was all going to be okay. It took every ounce of strength in Derek Morgan's being to restrain himself. Clenching his fists, he forced his chocolate brown eyes to meet the puppy dog eyes of his best friend.

"If you're not going to help me, you might as well go home" Morgan snarled as he stormed out of the room. Shock ruptured through Reid's body as he fought back the tears.

'_Why is Morgan acting like this? I miss him so much.._' Reid thought to himself. He returned to his desk, grabbed his satchel and headed for the elevator. Once on the ground floor, his shoes made a barely noticeable squeak each step across the marble floor. He made his way into the street, finally letting the tears fall. He looked up and noticed the woman he had seen in the coffee shop, staring at him intently. The gaze from her azure eyes that met Spencer's tear-stained face burned through him, burned into his soul. He called out, but she was gone within seconds. Spencer blinked, but was just greeted by an empty gap in the sidewalk where she had been. Shaking his head, he rubbed the section of his forehead between his two eyes, and turned to continue down the sidewalk.

**MEANWHILE..**

Derek Morgan was sat at his desk, feet propped up and tapping a pencil rapidly racking his brains to find the missing puzzle piece to this case. Angered, he threw his pencil across the room, smashing it into multiple pieces as it hit the opposite wall. He couldn't get Spencer off his mind._'Why can't I do this? Why is this getting to me so much? Ever since Spencer was in danger, I feel..' _Morgan shook his head, pushing the thought to the back of his mind. His feelings and thoughts for Reid, if there were any feelings at all, were staying just there - in the back of his mind for as long as possible.

_Hmmm.. Getting interesting ;) or maybe not? Sorry that not much is happening, I'm kinda trying to drag it out a little :/ but if you're getting bored just let me know by reviewing and I'll deffo try and speed things up a little bit :') thanks for reading!_


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